Been riding: 20 years
Started riding on: Suzuki TS-50
And then: Mostly Suzukis with some minor incursions into the world of Yamaha & Honda
Currently riding: GSXR1000K5

What I like most:

Short-shifting on a huge spread of torque along fast empty country roads in France and chuckling to myself about the people suffering a form of Stockholm Syndrome who agree that 'you can't use more than 100hp on public roads anyway'.

What I dislike most:

Feeling that it's too risky to try to get the bike out of our ungritted street on a frosty morning ever since they installed the speed humps that nobody asked for.

The fact that doing more that 3000miles per year makes your bike close to worthless in the second hand market.

When I move to France permanently later this year, I will be unable to register my current motorcycle due to the French 100hp limit. Andorran tourist plates, here we come. I thought that the EU was supposed to make our lives more simple

Observations:

I don't get pulled out on nearly as much as I used to. This seems to fly in the face of everything I read.

Last edited by stive gonzales on Thu Jul 06, 2006 16:13, edited 1 time in total.

I first started biking (well scootering actually) as a teenager, never bothered with a license though these were the days of upto 250cc machines as a learner and my scoot was only a 150.

I stopped when I joined the Military Police but some 10 years later found myself the very proud holder of a motorcycle test pass and the most pleasurable job of riding ceromonial and police duties on an old Norton Interpol as well as Despatch Riding on an Armstrong MT500.

When I left the Army that was it I couldn't afford a bike so I stopped eventually deciding to return another 10 years later when I decided that my daily commute from Basingstoke to Slough would be better acheived on two wheels rather than four.

Since then I have not done a single business mile in a car, I do in the region of 25,000 business miles a year. Mostly I use my trustworthy 1998 Honda VFR (now with 82,000 miles on it) but also currently have a Goldwing and an ex Army MT500 (couldn't resist it)

Mrs Patch also now rides, she has a VFR and also a sidecar combination. Both children go pillion and have done since they were 5 years old.

I have a bike licence... and that's it (although I do read Bike magazine monthly); when I can afford to ride both a bike and a car, I'm afraid I'll (probably) be getting a fun car and a commuting bike. That said, hello!

I am a Senior Motorcycle observer for the IAM and bikesafe coach for local police I've been tested (suggested gold) by a RoSPA examiner, but did not officially do the test as I don't like RosPA's policies on Speed cameras and Motorcycles. I used to run advanced riding courses too but don't have the time to do to many now

First rode a motorcycle in 76 (my brother's Norton!), bought my first bike (Honda 175) in 77, passed my test in 78.
Succession of increasingly larger bikes since, and now have two early model Honda CBR600s, one I bought new in 90 which is now a rolling spares pile for the one I bought in May last year.
I do about 9000 miles a year but that's set to increase from this month when I finally abandon London's creaking public transport system and start commuting by bike again, something I haven't done regularly for the 11 years I've worked in the City. Ken Livingstone take note!

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum